Jamie Autumn Hawthorn
by Jaye Blue
Summary: Jamie Hawthorn is attacked one night on the way home from work by a vile man, Anderson. He works for an ex-agent of Cobra, a very dangerous human. Or, ex-human. The Joes save Jamie's life on that night, and she gets a very intriguing proposition. Read on to find out how Jamie's life changes, and how she ends up as a pupil of one of the greatest martial arts masters in the world.
1. Chapter 1

Hello fiction readers!

This story will eventually be a Snake Eyes pairing, being that he is my favourite character off all Joe's shows.

R & R!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings from the G.I. JOE franchise, only MY characters, MY settings and MY** plot.

The sun began to set as Jamie Hawthorn walked quietly down the street. She had her hands jammed in the pockets of her light grey sweater, her head covered by her hood; shoulders hunched. She treaded lightly on the sidewalk, soundlessly.

Suddenly, Jamie froze, straightening her back.

The distinctive shuffle of feet on the cracked cement caught her attention. Her eyes narrowed.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Four.

It was a man, with laboured breathing and heavy footfalls.

Jamie usually prided herself for her sharp hearing, but now she wasn't so sure she wanted to know he was there.

Putting her head back down, she pulled her hood back and hurried along. Her eyes flickered across the street, the street lamps had come on now, the traffic slowing until the last car she'd seen had passed by five minutes ago.

Her heart quickened, as did the man's footsteps. Jamie panted, lengthening her strides until she was nearly jogging.

_SNAP_

Jamie recognized the sound of a pocketknife being unsheathed. Fear struck her core, she whimpered as she glanced behind her.

The man was not twenty feet from her, grinning, "Nice night, isn't it sweetheart?"

Her eyes wide, she whirled around to run. Pumping her legs as fast as she could manage, she heard the thundering steps of the heavily set scruffy man.

'_Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,'_ Jamie thought in a moment of humour to try and calm her raging heart.

Working her arms in unison with her legs, Hawthorn raced down the sidewalk. Despite her acceleration, the man kept pace with her.

"You're gonna have to run faster than that, sugar!"

Hyperventilating, Jamie tried to find something she could use to her advantage. There was nothing; not even a branch on the ground. _'Damn city keeps this place too clean,_' she thought. To her right were endless blocks of houses and to her left was an open field.

"Come back here, love! I just want to have a good time!" he chortled hoarsely.

He was a smoker.

Rage building in her veins from his taunts, Jamie retorted, "At my expense!"

He laughed, "Of course!"

He was right behind her, Jamie panicked. Adrenaline forging through her bloodstream, she screeched to a halt and ducked.

"Ack!" he grunted as he tripped over Jamie's curled form. His toes caught on her arm, pulling her with him. She rolled; she spread her arms to stop herself. Scrambling to her feet, she was about to take off when a grubby fist grabbed hold of her ankle.

"Ah! Let go!" Jamie turned to kick his collar bone with her heel. He recoiled from the hit, releasing her ankle. She'd been pulling back so hard that when he finally released her; she tumbled backwards, rolling her ankle. There was an audible snap as the muscles and tendons tore in the joint.

Her face paled significantly.

"You little-"

Jamie ran. Well, almost. She took off sprinting, but slowed to a gibbled limp when she nearly passed out from the pain of her injury.

"Get back here!"

She dodged a lamp post. Suddenly, she was jerked to a stop.

He'd grabbed her sweater. Leering, he turned her to face him, "Gotcha'!"

Baring her teeth in a scowl, Jamie lashed out with her right hand, striking his nose with her palm. He wheeled back clutching his nose, but he caught her sleeve. Even as she struggled to escape, he held fast.

"That wasn't very nice," he growled, removing his hand to reveal a thick trail of blood streaming from his nostrils. "Allow me to return the favour!"

Fast as lightning, he pulled his pocketknife back out. Jamie paled even more and pulled away fiercely, speechless.

He lunged for her chest, but she ripped free of his grip and deflected the blade with a basic self-defence block. He scowled and came at her again, but she ducked and elbowed the inside of his knee.

Howling, he brought the knife down, but she had already backed away, her hands up. She knew running was helpless; he'd just catch up to her.

Jamie swallowed, oh how she wished she could just go home and slam the door in this guy's face.

He surged forward, the knife outstretched in his arm. Jamie knocked it aside, leaving her ribs exposed.

She hadn't noticed he'd pulled a second _hunting_ knife.

Without a second thought, he drove the blade between her ribs. She gasped and stumbled backwards. He scowled, "Now, we're even."

Blinking rapidly, Jamie felt the cold fire of the knife inside of her as the adrenaline faded.

The man stepped forward to retrieve his knife from her chest.

"Anderson! Step away from the lady!" an authoritative voice demanded from Jamie's left.

Slowly, in a dazed-like state, she glanced over at a woman with fiery red hair. Flanking her were two hulking men dressed in dark clothing. They wore what looked like heavy protective gear, and ear pieces.

All three had nasty looking firearms aimed at his head.

"Can't I at least get my knife?" he asked innocently. He took a step towards Jamie.

Three safeties' clicked off. Yet, he took another slow step.

In shock, Jamie stumbled backwards and tripped on a curb. She fell, her arms limp at her sides. But where she expected hard cold cement, two warm arms wound around her stomach and waist, catching her.

In the split second Anderson had been distracted, the woman had lunged towards him; knocking the blade from his hand. Grabbing his wrists, one of the men cuffed him.

"Get him in the jet, Ripcord," the blonde man ordered and handed a muttering Anderson off to 'Ripcord'.

He nodded, "You got it, Duke." Ripcord hauled the large male off into a large black jet that had landed in the field. Jamie hadn't notices that before.

Jamie blinked slowly; she thought the blade was burning a hole in her chest. Arching her back, she gasped and reached to pull the knife free from her ribs.

A large gloved hand stopped her by grabbing her wrist. She leaned back and looked to see the upside down figure of a man clad in black. On his head he wore a helmet. '_Is there going to be an explosion?'_ Jamie wondered. He appeared as if in a bomb suit, but it certainly wasn't bulky enough to be.

Or she was hallucinating.

Did people hallucinate after being stabbed?

Jamie suddenly lost all her strength. She felt cold and weak. Her eyelids drooping, she smiled and laid a hand on the side of the man's helmet. She whispered, "Thank you for catching me," before fading into darkness.

Duke sent Ripcord to secure Anderson in the aircraft as he followed after Scarlett. She was standing next to Snake Eyes, who had the civilian in his arms. Duke watched her raise a hand to his helmet before letting it slide away.

He jogged up beside Scarlett, "What's her status?"

She shook her head, "I don't know. We need to get her back to base ASAP."

Snake Eyes shifted, lifting a bloody finger for Scarlett to inspect. She bent down and took his hand. After smelling the fluid her eyes narrowed.

"What is it?" Duke asked, shouldering his weapon and kneeling alongside her. On the ninja's forefinger was a blackish-purple substance mixed with the blood of the woman in his lap.

"Poison," Scarlett hissed, "get her loaded now!"

She jumped to her feet and raced to the aircraft, pulling Duke along with her. Snake Eyes gently lifted the unconscious woman and loped into the plane. Once inside, the cargo door closed and he set her softly on the floor, moving the hair from her face.

Scarlett appeared behind him, a first-aid kit in hand, "Here."

She handed it down to him. He popped it open and rummaged through the contents before pulling gauze and disinfectant from the box.

As he was about to administer the disinfectant, Duke grabbed his shoulder, "Wait, do you think we should put that on top of the poison?"

Snake Eyes lifted his head to give an empty stare to the soldier. Scarlett nodded, "It's all we have. Ripcord! Get this bird in the air!"

"Yes ma'am!" Ripcord shouted from the cockpit. Seconds later the rumble of the engines could be heard.

Snake Eyes turned back to the woman and continued his work.


	2. Chapter 2

Jamie blinked; dazed. A cold feeling spread through her chest, numbing the nerves. She rolled her eyes and glanced lazily around her. Crouched next to her was the man who wore black, another man sat on a seat a little ways from her. The woman she'd seen earlier was nowhere to be found.

The blond, Jamie noticed, had hazel-blue eyes and a thoughtful look on his.

As if feeling her stare, he turned to glance at her. His head cocking to the side he shifted forward, "Snake Eyes, she's awake."

Jamie looked to her right and watched the masked man as he twirled on the balls of his feet to face her. She smiled weakly, "Hi, how ya doin'?"

The blond man cocked an eyebrow. The other tilted his head and reached under her head to feel under her chin with two fingers. After several seconds he pulled back and assessed her wounds. As Jamie moved to look at her chest where the man was looking, his hand shot out to hold her chin up.

Furrowing her brow, she tried to sit up. He placed his other hand on her collar-bone and gently forced her down while shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" Jamie asked in confusion, the numbness in her chest clueing her in that something wasn't right.

"You were stabbed, he doesn't want you to see the wound," the red-head strode into Jamie's line of sight. Jamie blinked.

Her eyes narrowing in suspicion she asked, "Why?"

"Because the blade is still there," she stated and kneeled down next the silent man.

"What?" Jamie coughed in surprise, but froze as a tightness squeezed her chest. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers and she gaped. She let the man push her down, her lungs had seized.

"It's the poison. Isn't there anything we can do Snake?" the red-head gently squeezed Jamie's knee.

She didn't feel it.

The ninja thought for hardly a moment before stretching an arm out. He lifted her waist gently, holding her lower back free of the metal flooring. He leaned forward until he was nearly face to mask with her and reached underneath Jamie. She barely felt him as he ran his hand along her back. She stared hard into the deep recesses of his mask, swearing she could see the shadow of his face before he sank two fingers deep into one of her taut muscles.

Almost immediately Jamie relaxed and took a deep breath. She blinked slowly and swallowed.

He slowly removed his hands, softly letting her back sink to the floor.

"Thank you," she whispered in fatigue.

Scarlett watched Snake Eyes manoeuvre himself so he could reach underneath the woman. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from chewing her lip.

After a few seconds Scarlet watched as nearly every muscle in her body loosened; her chest deflating as she expelled the air from her lungs. She took a deep breath and relaxed.

Snake Eyes pulled back from her as she whispered a relieved 'Thank you'. He nodded and sat back on his heels.

Scarlett shuffled around so he wouldn't block the woman's view of her, "What's your name?"

The woman sighed and opened her eyes, "Jamie Hawthorn."

"Well, Jamie, I'm Scarlett and this is Snake Eyes," she laid a hand on his shoulder to show who she was speaking of. "That man over there is Duke. The pilot's Ripcord."

Jamie nodded and smiled, "Thank you all for showing up when you did."

Scarlett smiled softly, "Of course. We've been after him for some time, I just wish we could have gotten there a few minutes earlier-"

Jamie shook her head interrupting, "-no. You showed up when you did for a reason. But, what's happened, happened. Don't blame yourself."

Scarlett settled onto her rear with a small guilty smile on her face, "Thank you, Jamie."

She nodded. Scarlett took a moment to scan Jamie Hawthorn. She was quite pretty despite the large green hunting knife protruding from her chest and her swollen ankle. Her hair was a dark wavy blonde, her eyes a rich green. Her face was slightly rounded, but her body was curvy. Scarlett could tell from her structure that she was built for strength. Though, Scarlett figured she could put on some speed when she wanted to.

Jamie watched silently as Scarlett looked over her. Drowsiness spread slowly through her body, her eyelids drooped some.

Her eyes snapped open when Ripcord's voice shouted from the cockpit, "Buckle up! We're landing in five!"

Scarlett hopped to her feet and sat down in a seat across from Jamie, next to Duke.

Snake Eyes reached over her head to grab a couple straps; buckling her to the floor. She flinched as one of the buckles tightened on her skin, pulling her wound against the knife. Snake Eyes froze and looked at her.

She nodded, "I'm alright."

He tilted his head.

Jamie gave him a half smile, "Really."

He waited a couple of seconds before strapping himself in.

After momentary hesitation, Jamie lifted her arm, which wasn't strapped to the floor. She reached for Snake Eyes' hand. He gently squeezed her fingers once she found it and turned his head to watch her.

"I'm not fond of flights," she said quietly and squeezed his hand tighter. He nodded.

Five minutes later, true to his word, Ripcord had landed the plane. Jamie had tensed and gripped Snake Eyes' hand tight enough that _she'd _lost feeling in her fingers. He, of course, had noticed and unbuckled himself to sit beside her. He'd rubbed soothing circles on her hip.

Now, he unbuckled her and took her ever so gently in his arms. Jamie held onto the edge of his chest plate like a life line. As the door opened, Jamie spotted a medical team waiting for her. Standing next to them was an average sized man with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a camouflage suit with a military hat on his head. He must be their General.

Snake Eyes walked slowly down the ramp, trying not to sway or jostle Jamie too much. She appreciated his efforts incredibly.

As he reached the bottom of the ramp, the nurses shoved the gurney forward. They demanded he set her on the mat immediately. He gently set her down on the stretcher, but as he turned to report to Hawk, she caught his arm. Her frightened gaze tore through his visor and into his eyes as she pleaded, "Please, stay with me."

He paused.

Then, slowly nodding he followed the doctors and nurses; holding Jamie's hand. As she was rushed into the bases' operating room, he squeezed her hand before releasing her.

She watched him disappear as the doors closed behind her and the herd of medical staff.

Scarlett watched the medical team wheel Jamie out of the bay.

"Scarlett," General Hawk called. She turned and saluted her commanding officer.

"Sir, we captured Anderson. One civilian casualty in the process," she stated in a robotic voice.

Hawk sighed, "Are _you _alright? These things don't usually happen with the Alpha team."

Flinching ever so slightly, Scarlett shook her head, "Honestly, Sir, I need a shower and a good night's rest. I don't know whether Jamie will survive the night."

The General nodded, "Round up Duke and Ripcord, send them to my office, then you're free to clean up."

Scarlett nodded, "Yes, Sir!" She saluted once more before dashing off to send the boys to Hawk's office.

A steady beeping awoke Jamie from her fitful rest. She blinked her blurry green eyes open to see pristine hospital-like room surroundings.

As Jamie sat up, she immediately grimaced and lay back down. The nerves in her chest had fired and caused an incredible pain to flare. Taking shallow breathes; Jamie used her elbows to ease herself into a sitting position.

Once there she noticed that the man she'd guessed was the General was standing near the foot of her bed, Scarlett next to him.

"Good morning, Miss. Hawthorn," he greeted, "I am General Hawk."

Jamie nodded, "Sir."

His eyes flickered to the giant patch of gauze on her chest, before moving back to her eyes, "How are you feeling?"

Jamie paused, mentally assessing her wounds, "Sore, but alive."

He smiled, "Good, because I have a proposition for you."

Her brow rose.

"We, as the Joes, are currently very understaffed. There is an opening in the civilian department. If you are interested, Scarlett will give you the details," he offered and glanced at the red-head next to him.

Jamie thought for a moment. She had almost nothing at home, save a few mementos of her childhood. She'd been trying to get into university for biology and chemistry for the past three years, but hadn't been able to come up with the money.

She nodded, "I'd like the details."

"Excellent! Also, being that we are understaffed, Snake Eyes will work as your rehab instructor, and you will be joining a martial arts class, as per the conditions of your employment," he ordered and held a hand out, "welcome to the Joes, Jamie Hawthorn."

With a smile on her face, Jamie took his outstretched hand, "Thank you, Sir."


End file.
